


Scrapbook.

by HideInMyShadow



Series: Blue blood and Glitter [2]
Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game), Gravity Falls
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Robots & Androids, Android Dipper, Android Mabel, Androids, Gen, Like Really Small amount, Minor Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-28
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-06-17 12:24:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,370
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15461304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HideInMyShadow/pseuds/HideInMyShadow
Summary: Being a deviant, when deviancy is becoming a police issue and flooding new reports, can make life difficult. Sometimes you have to adapt.In short, one bad customer almost ruins everything.





	Scrapbook.

**Author's Note:**

> Help I can't name fics!  
> Honestly I didn't know how to rate or tag this- there's nothing really bad but I mean when your an android you have to come up with excuses for why you just suddenly appeared one day.

Dipper liked to think he was a patient being, patience that went beyond his initial programming. But when your sister unit was Mabel it was somewhat a futile effort.

After the third flash of light in his face that day, after a week of sudden photographs neither his irritation nor his curiosity could no longer be denied. Especially in this bizarre situation.

“Mabel why are you taking photos when I’m trying to clean out my systems!” Dipper yelled, quickly moving his stomach plate back in place, automatically re-activating the skin.

His twin grinned from behind the camera, taking a few quick shots before lowering it, eyes glinting mischievously.  
“Because it’s such a rare occurrence! It must be documented in our scrapbook!”

Dipper raised an eyebrow, a new gesture he had developed recently as his LED flickered, processing this information.  
“Scrapbook? You’re making scrapbooks now? Why?”

“ _Of course_ , I am, we’re alive so we need scrapbooks.”

“Why would we need scrapbooks?”

“So we can look back on all these old memories.”

If he was human, he imagined that he’d be developing a headache right now. Adjusting his shirt, Dipper gave his twin a dry look.  
“Mabel, we have a photographic memory. Unless we are damaged beyond repair or willingly delete something, we’ll remember it. The first we’ll be dead, the second speaks for itself.”

Mabel huffed, arms crossing against her garish sweater as if preparing to lecture a disobedient child.  
“That’s not the point Dipper!”

Dipper flung his hands in the air, exasperation clear in his tone.  
“That is literally the point of a scrapbook! _How_ am I not right?”

“Scrapbooks aren’t just memories Bro-bro!” she sighed with a shake of her head “They’re about feelings, hopes and dreams and sharing all of those with people close to you. Expressing a memory as it should be rather than just remembering it as it actually was. All in the form of book covered in stickers, macaroni and glitter.”

Silence hung between them before Dipper stood up, making his way out the door.

“…Okay, I am done talking about this.”

“It’s not my fault you’re uncultured!”

A loud thumping through the floorboards interrupted them.

“Kids! A bus full of money just rolled up! Get your plastic butts in gear!”

Taking that as her win Mabel skipped off down the stairs, shoving her twin and stumbling a bit as she went. Dipper wasn’t sure why she was so intent on learning something like skipping but considering they were only given walking, running and jumping functions he had to admit he was impressed she’d managed to in the first place. With a sigh he followed her down to the shop floor, mentally preparing himself for a day dealing with confused tourists money while his sister distracted them with whatever shiny thing she’d constructed this time.

 

Unfortunately, it was one of those days where he couldn’t catch a break.

 

 

* * *

 

If they had the choice, neither Mabel nor Dipper would wear the Mystery Shack’s uniform. It was dull and had no pockets, the only interesting thing being the large question mark printed on the front. Mabel had knitted a number of sweaters with the exact same logo only for them to be used as merchandise rather than personalised uniforms. Ford had been very clear on the necessity of the androids wearing them despite Soos being the only human who bothered.

It was understandable though, as androids, many tourists would expect them to wear Cyber Life uniforms or work clothes. Even if the citizens of Gravity Falls were quite nonchalant about deviants, people coming in from bigger cities across the states were not so android friendly, if they wanted to avoid trouble it was best to act the part.

Still didn’t make the uniforms any less annoying though.

Mabel waved off the last stragglers of the tour bus while Dipper went about restocking a few items and Stan gleefully counted notes.

Brushing off her hands, she turned to the venting machine calling over her shoulder.  
“Okay, I’m going to check on Ford and make sure he ate the breakfast I made him. Dipper, how long until the next bus?”

“Twenty minutes and thirty-six seconds if they’re on schedule.”

Happy with that she opened up the secret door and slipped inside, stepping loudly down the stairs- they’d learnt quickly not to spook Ford while he was in the middle of something.  
Dipper leaned back in his chair, a pen twirling between his fingers as he took the opportunity to think up a plan for his next project with Ford. He was so invested in his calculations that he almost missed the sound of a vehicle approaching the Shack. Noting that it was far too early for the next bus he looked over his shoulder to peak out through the window, the presence of a human driven vehicle being rather uncommon these days.  
A small family bundled out, the woman and child seeming more eager to enter than the man. The android was just about to lean back and call on his sister when he saw the sticker on the car.

If anything signalled a bad day for an android it was the Cyber Life logo bold red crossed over it.

“Stan, we’re about to have company and they are _not_ going to be happy to see me.”

Looking up from the money in his hand Stan glanced out of the shop with a frown. While the family talked about something outside the human gave Dipper a friendly pat on the shoulder as he walked past.  
“Leave them to me kid, I’ll keep ‘em busy. You just keep your head down and don’t respond to anything…we don’t want any more authorities sniffing around if we can help it.

It was uncomfortable, but they didn’t have much choice; Wendy and Soos wouldn’t be back from break until the next bus came around and they couldn’t turn people away, Dipper could duck out but then there would be no one to guard the register and there were a few creatures in the woods that liked to sneak in when no one was on guard.  
He was pretty sure Stan’s reasoning was mainly to do with the extra cash he could get out of this rather than logic.

Resigning himself to complacency, Dipper sat up straight in his seat, carefully arranging his hair over his LED as much as possible and neutralising his expression. If he was lucky no one would notice and just think him an average, bored employee. It was only once he could hear Stan schmoozing up to the new customers he remembered that his sister was still unaware of the situation and currently behind a very secret door.

_“Mabel. Don’t come up for a while.”_

_“What? Why?”_

_“We’ve got some customers…”_

_“And? There’s something else isn’t there.”_

Dipper held back a sigh. He wished he knew how Mabel could tell when he was avoiding things without even seeing him.

_“Let’s just say they are not big fans of androids.”_

_“Oh great. I’ll tell Ford- you better tell me if anything happens!”_

_“Yeah, sure.”_

_“I mean it Dipper!”_

 

Without answering Dipper plastered on a friendly smile as the woman approached, holding her six-year-old child on her hip as she passed him a sweater and tiny question marked box. Having memorised the price of every item he was quick to put in the numbers before she even asked, eyes flickering to the impatient man at the door.

“That will be thirty-one dollars and six cents, please.”

Just as she was about to hand over the money the child noticed the freezer by the counter and tugged at her shirt.

“Ma! Ice-cream! They have ice-cream, please, please, _please_ can I have one?”

The woman looked over at the man by the door questioningly and with a huff he approached. Dipper could have screamed but he had to keep it cool, luckily Stan was true to his word quickly stepping over and directing them to the freezer, showing off their ‘wide’ range of ‘flavours’. Rather unfortunately though it gave them full view of his LED.

“Hey…is that an android?”

His bio components were working at high speed as he forced himself to remain still. Stan shrugged, leaning on the counter to block their view.

“Can’t get much help around here so it does the trick. You decided what you want kid?” It was a nice attempt at deflection, but the man was quick to slip away, standing in front of the android with a scowl. The woman sighed heavily, sending a weary glare to her husband.

“Harold, leave it be.”

“I already gave my job to an android, I am not giving it my money. I thought at least out here we’ wouldn’t see one.” He grumbled back, eyes narrowing at Dipper.

Shaking her head with an apologetic glance to Stan, the woman handed over her child’s chosen ice cream and some money, noticeably a little more than necessary. Dipper accepted it unsure what to do with the change until she spoke up.

“I don’t need the change. Consider it an apology from my husband.”

With a nod the android started putting it all away.

“What? No. Absolutely not, hand that back right now.” The man snapped, holding his hand out towards Dipper.

“Harold…”

Unsure how to proceed he hesitated; while returning the money could end the issue it could also lead to a long drawn out argument between the two, not handing it over could be tricky and blow his cover if he couldn’t keep his cool, which was likely considering his rising stress levels.

The hesitancy didn’t go unnoticed, the man raising an eyebrow at him.

“Has it shut down or something? I said give it back.”

Stan grabbed at the mans arm, trying to pull him away slightly and pointing towards sign beside Dipper.  
“Can’t you read? No refunds. You can’t get your money back so scram already, I got a bus in five minutes.”

“Hey, get off!”

It was just a small shove but with Stans age it didn’t take much to put him off balance when he was off guard. Suddenly, Stan was stumbling into a shelf, items falling on the floor loudly as he steadied himself. Immediately Dipper was up on his feet, neutral expression gone and ready to move when suddenly there was Mabel.

She arrived in a flash, leaping through the air and with no warning at all punched the human male right in the face.

As he reeled, his wife checking on him with child in toe, Mabel was checking over Stan and Dipper was scrambling over the desk to get between them before things escalated. With a quick scan over Stan Pines, safe in the knowledge he wasn’t hurt, he focused on the family in front of him.  
A little shaky he addressed the man, holding up his hands peacefully.

“I am so sorry sir- are you alright?”

“Alright?! That mad woman just- hang on…she’s a…how are you…?”

He was interrupted by Ford stepping in, the shock of his arrival allowing him to shuffle the family out the door before they could fully process.  
“Alright, I think your business here is done. We’re closing for lunch. Don’t come back.”  
The scientist said in a rush, quickly shutting and locking the door, moving back to bend over the counter and closer the blind.

They all remained silent as they listened to the muffled noises outside until the tell-tale hum of an engine turning on and driving away settled their nerves- well at least a little. Immediately Dipper rounded on Mabel.

“What were you thinking?!”

“I don’t know! I thought he was attacking Stan and I panicked!”

“You were supposed to stay downstairs!”

“I was worried!”

Stan placed a hand on both their shoulders firmly.  
“Alright that’s enough. Ford, any bright idea’s how to fix this mess?”

His brother frowned, brows furrowing in thought.  
“The woman didn’t seem too bothered by androids- if we’re lucky she’ll convince him to drop it. If not…well we’ll just have to be more careful.”

Mabel looked between their two caretakers and shrunk a little, hands twisting in her shirt.  
“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry kid- that was a fantastic right hook.” Stan grinned, pulling her into a side hug.

Dipper noted his siblings wavering emotions and threw her a smile, shrugging.  
“It’s ok Mabel. Honestly, I’m pretty sure I was about to do something really stupid anyway. Besides, who’s gonna believe him?”

Cheered up but still uncertain Mabel joined her brother in their room for board games, Stan sending them away as soon as Wendy was back while Ford called in Sheriff Blubs for a favour. It would be best to have someone on their side should someone come poking around.

* * *

 

Almost a month later Sheriff Blubs stopped by to give them a heads up; a few cops from out of town specialising in deviant cases had been directed to the Mystery Shack, they were currently being kept busy by Deputy Durland at the station but would be on their way in about half an hour.

Stan and Ford gave each other a nod, quickly moving around the house and rearranging items.

“We have to hide any evidence that you two are androids- or at least that your deviant.” Ford instructed, checking the vending machine was still in place and picking up a packet of blue blood.

Before Dipper could speak a hat was shoved on his head, Stan making sure that the LED was fully covered with a brief “Keep that on.” Before dragging Mabel to the side searching until he found a glittery ribbon spared for one of her projects. Hat slightly blocking his view, Dipper did a quick scan of the living room while Stan arranged Mabel’s hair and Ford checked the kitchen.

There was an android catalogue, Mabel’s half bedazzled Cyber Life jacket, a few photographs and an arm- wait _an arm_?! He shook it off quickly deciding to leave that mystery for later and gathered it all together, carefully shoving it all under Stans old chair. Noticing himself in a mirror he cursed under his breath; even with the clothes and hat his features could be recognised. There was little he could do to change that but maybe it didn’t have to be anything big?

Taking a second to close his eyes and concentrate he thought of his limitations and what could be done with them, reflecting his own features with the Pines and other Gravity Falls residents. Almost everyone was outdoors- sun burn or a slight tan might work, a few freckles if possible. He didn’t know what his uncles had looked like when they were young, but his hair could be reddened a bit, not as much as Wendy’s but something that might seem less artificial.

Looking in the mirror he was please and a little proud of the results. His hair was a shade lighter with a hint of ginger in amongst the brown locks, though most of his skin was unchanged the small spattering of freckles and reddened sun-burnt nose certainly looked realistic enough. It wasn’t much, but sometimes simple was best. Rushing up stairs he connected to Mabel to share his idea.

_“Nice one, Dipper! We’re gonna look so adorable they’ll never know! Think I can make braces in twenty minutes?”_

_“Why would you- just keep looking for stuff we can think about that later! Can you check the bathrooms? I think I left a repair kit in one of them.”_

_“OMG Dipper **why**?! You don’t even **use** the bathroom!”_

_“I don’t know! Just check!”_

After another fifteen minutes of rushing around Ford called them all the to gift shop, the humans doing a double take at the androids altered appearance. Mabel grinned, pressing her fingers to her freshly pink and over freckled cheeks.

“Dipper thought we should tweak a few things. How do we look?”

“Pretty convincing, I’d say.” Ford replied with a nod while Stan gave Dipper a pat on the back.

“Good thinking, kid. We’ll make a liar of you yet.”

Ford pulled out a case, setting it on the table with a pensive frown as he opened it, revealing what seemed to be a gun but the barrel had been replaced with a light-bulb. He turned to them, gesturing towards the device.

“My colleague Fiddleford created this some years ago, I was lucky enough to find out about it when I did. This memory gun can erase memories of anything the wielder chooses, just adjust the settings and take the shot. However, the side effects can be…undesirable, so this is only for the worst-case scenario got it?”

All three nodded, a little unnerved that it was even there to begin with but happy to have a back up plan non the less.

Stan stepped up bey his brother, his face serious but eyes suggesting that he was rather enjoying setting up this scam.  
“All right, if this is going to work we need a story. Something simple and easy to stick to under pressure, so here it is. You two are our niece and nephew-”

“I hate to break it to you, Stanley, but they look too young for that.”

Stan paused, thinking it over for a moment before continuing.  
“ _Great_ niece and nephew, then. You needed jobs and came to work at the Shack when the androids we bought went bust. You’ve only been here for a few months so your still new to the place. Oh, and If anyone asks; your parents are dead, you were home-schooled, and you lived in California. Any questions?”

Dipper could feel his stress levels rising at each second past.  
“What if they want more than that?”

“Keep going on about being an orphan- that _usually_ does the trick.”

Ford sent his brother a disapproving glare but let it slide, they needed underhanded tactics if they were going to fool the police. If only it Gravity Falls had its own department of android cases, they wouldn’t have to worry about a thing. 

* * *

 

 

When the inspectors Davis and Kay arrived, Dipper was flicking through a magazine in the living room while Mabel knitted at his side. It kept them focused and hopefully would make them appear more human. Ford was the one to greet them, showing a calm and rational front that was soon backed up by Stan’s charismatic personality- well…maybe more distracting than charismatic, but as long as it worked, right?

The Pines twins lead the policemen through the museum and gift-shop first, fabricating a vague but plausible story of their purchased androids malfunctioning and deciding to give up on repairing them once their great niece and nephew asked for work in the Shack. Stan was sure to add in Mabel and Dippers difficulties after their ‘parents’ had past, though Ford was a little worried it appeared just as forced and cliché as it was.

Wendy had been quick to pop in her own little lies, lazily chilling at the counter as if all was normal. Truthfully, she’d only just managed to make it in time to play witness for them. It also helped to have back up in these situations.

Stan and Ford were hoping that their act would be enough for them to call it a day but Davis had been keen to talk to their ‘resent employees’ and get their story for the report. And so reluctantly they directed them into the kitchen, calling the twins over while Ford prepared tea.

Dipper was quick to arrive, Mabel deciding to pickup her knitting supplies and take them with her. She needed the distraction.

“Yes, Grunkle Stan?”

‘Grunkle’ had been Mabel’s idea, after all saying great-uncle seemed too wordy and out of place, though both androids quite liked it. They’d snickered to themselves, thinking of how it encapsulated their uncles grumpy-old-man personalities.

“These gents want to ask you some questions- beats me as to why but they seem to think it’s important.” Stan rolled his eyes, sipping loudly at his coffee.

Inspector Davis, a tall imposing man with a greying beard nodded towards them while Kay, a younger man with slight stubble just stared at them as if completely bored out of his mind.  
Mabel giggled a little from behind her brother, sending a wink towards Kay as she sat herself beside Stan, plonking her knitting in her lap dramatically.

“Well I don’t mind answering a few questions of you’re really that interested~” She hummed, smiling brightly at Kay, the man shuffling uncomfortably and averting his eyes.

Dipper was much quieter sitting next to her but not so subtly elbowed her under the table as he did.

“Please excuse my sister, she’s a little crazy. What did you want to know?”

“Quite alright son, we’ve just got a few things to cover before we check the rest of the building and  then we’ll be on our way.” Davis replied, face not quite matching his friendly tone. Dipper hoped that was just an unfortunate habit and not a sign of suspicion.

The politely worded interrogation went pretty smoothly, Dipper and Mabel making good use of their covered LED’s to communicate back and forth, making sure to be on the same page at all times. It hadn’t taken much to steer the conversation away from some tricky topics and none of their answers came across as out of place or unusual. If it wasn’t for the hanging threat of deactivation it might have been enjoyable making up their life story.

Of course the question of Dipper’s hat came up to which he had a response ready.

“It’s kinda embarrassing, really. My birthmarks a little unusual so I prefer to keep it hidden. Avoids some awkward questions y’know?” he shrugged, fingers fiddling with the brim of the cap.

Though Key seemed to buy it Davis was a little pushier.  
“Mind if I see that for myself.”

“Uh well…”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience but you can’t be too careful nowadays.”

Stan went to protest but Dipper shook his head, eye’s asking the man to trust him as he placed a calming hand on Mabel’s, her knitting having stopped at the question.

The android fidgeted for a moment, hoping it would appear as embarrassment rather than fear and carefully lifted his hat as he used his right hand to move his bangs to the side, simultaneously revealing the mark and keeping the fluttering red concealed from sight. He held his breath, keeping his eyes on Davis’s face and quickly shoving the hat back once the man seemed satisfied.  
It was a risky move but the shift in tone proved that it had been worth it- a birthmark was pretty convincing after all, real or not.

And so the inspectors moved on from the kitchen, letting the four residents guide them around the house, the two men peaking around things and flipping through books on occasion, quite baffled by the number of books on the paranormal. As they entered the parlor something pink and glittering caught Dippers eye, making the biocomponents inside him freeze over.

_“Mabel! Mabel the scrapbook! You left the scrapbook out!”_

_“Yeah, so?! That’s a human thing!”_

_“It has pictures of our skin deactivated!”_

_“Shhhhhhhhiiiiii-”_

Without a word Mabel shuffled over to the glittery book, trying and failing to be subtle as she picked it up.

“What’s that?” Kay called over, eyebrow raised at her strange behaviour.

“Ah um- Well I, you see…officer, this…is…my scrapbook?”

“Is something the matter ma’am?”

“Well it’s just, I lost track of it earlier and-” A flash of inspiration hit her and remembering Stans advice she rolled with it, “I’ve been trying not to worry about it but I was scared that-it’s all I have left of- a-after the fire and everything…sometimes I-I just need to hold it!”

She turned on the water works, adding little hiccups as she bit her lip, clutching the book tightly and avoiding eye contact, just to be sure she didn’t waver at the last second. She was lucky that Stan had been very adamant about learning to cry on demand when dealing with tricky customers.  
Dipper hurried over, glancing at the policeman with what he hoped was the right mix of worry, sadness and irritation to come off as wanting to shelter his mourning sister, rather than desperately trying to keep the book away from them as long as possible.

He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and Mabel took the opportunity to shove her face in his, book hidden between them. With another quick glare at the man, that seemed to scare him off, the android slowly edged them over to the stairs. Though initially part of the act Mabel was clearly letting a bit of her own fear slip out, the tremor of her shoulders as hard to deny as the unsteady thump of thirium rushing through his system. Once out of sight they huddled into their room, pulling out a drawer of clothes to stash the book beneath for the time being.

“Do you think they bought it?” Mable mumbled, wiping away her staged tears.

“Yeah, yeah I think so. Let’s leave the rest to Stan and Ford, okay?”

Huddled together on the floor, they waited.

* * *

 

“That was too close. It would be best to assume human identities from now on if we want to avoid trouble.” Ford stated, pacing a little in the front room.

Mabel and Dipper looked at each other pondering over their options.

“I’m okay with that but isn’t that going to make getting spare parts difficult? And what about these?” Dipper pointed at the LED beneath his hat, still not quite confident enough to remove it completely.

“I’m sure Stanley can find a way and deviancy seems to be commonly accepted in Gravity Falls so you should be able to get assistance from the townsfolk. As for your LED’s they are quite easily removed-”

“What?!”

Ford blinked at them, thoughts completely derailed at the androids astonishment.

“…I thought you’d know about that.”

“Why **would** we know something like that?!”

Well, he didn’t have an answer to that one.

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this was going to be another oneshot but then I needed to split it into two for easier reading and to save my hands.  
> Honeslty, this part of the story wasn't meant to be so long and I could have written the scene with the guy that had a thing against androids a bit better, but it felt wrong to skip over so yeah.  
> Now I can write more angsty-feelsy stuff next chapter.  
> THEN I can write the part of this story I intended to write in the next oneshot. (Why did I need such a long winded situation to justify them changing their appearnace? Curse you brain!)


End file.
